首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Researching the origin of medieval manuscripts Background Medieval manuscripts — handwritten books produced between the fift
Researching the origin of medieval manuscripts Background Medieval manuscripts — handwritten books produced between the fift
admin
2022-09-09
96
问题
Researching the origin of medieval manuscripts
Background
Medieval manuscripts — handwritten books produced between the fifth and fifteenth centuries
Origin of many manuscripts unknown until 2009; scientists started using DNA testing
Animal hides — two types
Parchment
Sheep skin: white in colour and【L31】________
Greasy — writing can’t be erased so often used for【L32】________
Vellum
Calf skin: most popular for prestigious work because you can get【L33】________
lettering.
Preparation of hides
Treated in barrels of lime — where this was not available, skins were【L34】________
(removed hair — more flexible)
Stretched tight on a frame
Scraped to create same【L35】________
Vellum was【L36】________
Genetic testing — finding origins
Previously — analysed handwriting and【L37】________used by the writer
Now — using genetic data from ’known manuscripts’ to create a【L38】________
Uses of new data
Gives information on individual books
Shows the【L39】________of the book industry
Helps define【L40】________in medieval period
【L32】
My presentation today is on how the science of genetics is being used to shed light on the origin of manuscripts — anything written by hand — produced in the medieval period... that is... the period between the fifth and fifteenth centuries AD.
As many of you know, thousands of medieval handwritten books still exist today. Some of them have a clear provenance, that is, we know exactly where and when they were written, but the origin of many manuscripts has been a complete mystery, that is, until 2009 when geneticists started using DNA testing to shed light on their origins.
But before looking at the new research, I need to explain something about the way the manuscripts were produced — particularly what they were written on. Virtually all were written on treated animal skins and there were essentially two types. The first was parchment, which is made of sheepskin. It has the quality of
being very white but also being thin
. It has a naturally greasy surface which meant it was hard to erase writing from it.
This made it much sought after for court documents in medieval times
. The second type is vellum, which is calfskin. This was most often used for any very ’ high-status’ documents because
it provided the best writing surface, so scribes could achieve lettering of high quality
.
So, once the animal hides had been chosen, they had to be prepared. Where the right materials were on hand, the skins were put into large barrels or vats of lime, where they were agitated or stirred frequently.
But if lime wasn’t available, then the hides were buried
. Both these techniques were designed to cause the hair to slough off, and the skins to become gelatinous and therefore more flexible.
The next stage was to put the hides on stretcher frames and pull them very tight. While on the frame
they were scraped with a moon-shaped knife in order to create a uniform thickness
. For parchment, that was the end of the process,
but for vellum there was an additional stage where it was bleached
, in order to achieve the desired colour.
So, what does all this preparation mean for the quest to identify the origins of ’mystery’ manuscripts? Well, until recently the only way historians and other academics were able to guess at origins was
either through the analysis of the handwriting style or from the dialect in which the piece was written
. But these techniques have proven unreliable, for a number of reasons.
It was thus decided to try to look at the problem from a different angle... to start from what is known, that is, the small number of manuscripts whose origins we do already know. Because these parchments and vellum are both made from animal hides, it was possible to subject them to DNA testing and to identify the genetic markers for the date and location of production.
From this was created what is known as a ’baseline’
. The next stage was to test the mystery manuscripts, finding their DNA characteristics and then making comparisons between the known and the mystery scripts. Genetic similarities and differences enabled the scientists to gain more information about the origins of the many manuscripts we had known virtually nothing about up to that point.
Now you might ask — what are the potential uses of this new information? Well, obviously, it can shed light on the origin of individual books and manuscripts. But that’s not all. It can also
shed light on the evolution of the whole of the manuscripts production industry
in medieval times. And because that was such a thriving business, involving very large-scale movements right across the globe, the new data, in turn,
help historians establish which trade routes were in operation
during the whole millennium. Now if anyone has any questions...
选项
答案
court documents
解析
空格前为used for。推测应填入表示羊皮纸用途的词语。录音中的made it much sought after是题目中used for的同义表述,故空格处填入court documents。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/9nnD777K
本试题收录于:
雅思听力题库雅思(IELTS)分类
0
雅思听力
雅思(IELTS)
相关试题推荐
下列给定程序中函数fun的功能是:逐个比较p、q所指两个字符串对应位置上的字符,并把ASCII值大或相等的字符依次存放到c所指的数组中,形成一个新的字符串。例如,若主函数中a字符串为“aBCDeFgH”,b字符串为“ABed”,则c中的字符串应为
使用VC6打开考生文件夹下的工程test27_3。此工程包含一个test27_3.cpp,其中定义了类ARRAY,但类的定义并不完整。请按要求完成下列操作,将程序补充完整。(1)完成类ARRAY的带一个参数的构造函数,参数i为int型,如果i不是正
下面对类-对象主要特征描述正确的是
在已建窗体中有一命令按钮(名为Commandl),该按钮的单击事件对应的VBA代码为:PrivateSubCommandl_Click()subT.Form.RecordSource="select*from雇员"En
CPU中,除了内部总线和必要的寄存器外,主要的两大部件分别是运算器和()。
Ibecameinterestedinwritingatanearlyage.Sowhenmyfourth-gradeteachertoldmeabouta【C1】________writer’sconferencew
Whydoesthespeakersay,"IhavesomemeetingsnearyourofficebuildingonTuesdayandWednesday"?
AairBashCearthDgrassEsticksFstones
LaughterThenatureoflaughterlaughterisa【L31】________process—involvesmovementandsounditiscontrolledbyour【
TheGherkinBuildingCommissionedby:【L31】________firmcalledFosterandPartnersThefeaturesofitsappearance:Itsshapeis
随机试题
蒸汽冷凝器出现水锤现象是由于蒸汽压力太高。
数据压缩算法可分无损压缩算法和_______压缩算法两种。
A.营卫不和B.肺卫不固C.邪热郁蒸D.心血不足E.阴虚火旺玉屏风散适用于汗证中的()
“世界这么大,我想去看看。”在情怀至上的人眼里,“世界”一定是远方,远方让人充满向往,“看世界"便是去远方。然而,并不是人人都得去远方。其实,从完善认知的角度来说,“世界”未必就只有远方,“世界”也在身边。远方固然神秘,但身边一样充满了未知——就像很多时候
根据《工程建设项目施工招标投标办法》的相关规定,中标通知书发出后,中标人放弃中标项目的,()或者拒不提交所要求的履约保证金的,招标人可取消其中标资格,并没收其投标保证金。
关于滑坡防治,下列措施合理的是()。
1954年9月,第一届全国人民代表大会第一次会议在北京召开,标志着我国()在全国范围内系统地建立起来。
改革开放以来,民办学校如雨后春笋般涌现,你对此有何看法?
如右图所示,梯形ABCD的对角线AC上BD,其中,BC=3,,BD=2.1。问梯形ABCD的高AE的值是()。
设A为已定义的类名,下列声明类A的对象a的语句中正确的是()。
最新回复
(
0
)